“They have nothing. They’ve lost everything in this fire,” said Elliott.

Lowell resident Rothe Proeung received a call at 4 a.m. about the fire. He told WBZ his two children were sleeping at their mother’s apartment in the building. “At the time I was thinking about my kids. Where are my kids? Are they dead? Are they alive?”

Proeung said he found his two children outside the building. Both had suffered injuries but are expected to be OK. They were among those taken to area hospitals.

Coan said the fire’s cause remains under investigation. Officials noted that witnesses reported a sound like fireworks, but said no conclusions could be drawn.